London 2012 Olympics: British athletes told to bite tongue over Dwain Chambers reprieve

Dwain Chambers and David Millar might struggle for acceptance among team-mates
this summer, but their problems could be nothing compared to the British
Olympic Association’s task in achieving the reforms set out by its chairman,
Colin Moynihan, this week.

Looking to return: Dwain Chambers has been cleared to compete in the London OlympicsPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

Moynihan vowed on Tuesday to lead the fight for a tougher sanction against drug-takers after the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected the BOA’s lifetime ban. He believes that those who benefit from performance-enhancing substances should be suspended for at least four years, rather than the current two.

However, those with influence beyond the UK on Tuesday said that Moynihan’s strident tone is divorced from legal reality and that there was little chance of his rhetoric becoming regulation.

At the same time, the BOA revealed serious misgivings among athletes over Chambers and Millar’s potential inclusion in the Games, despite having served doping bans.

Sarah Winckless, chairman of the BOA’s athletes’ commission, believes that athletes overwhelmingly oppose the CAS decision. She told Telegraph Sport that she will advise those who disagree with Chambers and Millar’s inclusion to avoid expressing their views.

“I think athletes will be accepted into the team but I think there will be some personal feelings that we will encourage the athletes to keep to themselves. You work very hard to compete and you work very hard to train and people are very proud of how they got to medal-winning performances.”

Chambers’ and Millar’s experiences since returning to competition suggests Winckless might be overstating the strength of opposition towards them.

Millar was a valued member of the British team that helped Mark Cavendish to win the world title last year, with the Manxman repeatedly saying he wants his “road captain” beside him in at London 2012.

Chambers’s lawyer, Siza Agha, meanwhile, issued a list of 19 British and international sprinters who back Chambers’s right to compete, having served his two-year ban in 2006.

The chances of future doping offenders facing the same restrictions that applied to Chambers and Millar seem slim, however, as Moynihan promised to spearhead attempts to persuade the World Anti-Doping Agency to implement a tougher code.

Tellingly however, he has not argued for life bans, either publicly or in the BOA’s submission to the continuing review of the Wada code.That suggests he knows such sanctions are unsustainable in law. His critics will suggest that undermines his support for a bylaw that allows national bodies to impose their own bans.

Dave Howman, the Wada general secretary, said yesterday that life bans for first offences were “totally impossible”. “There would not be a human rights lawyer or sports lawyer in the world who would suggest that,” he said. Howman also believes that automatic four-year bans for first offences would be difficult to enforce in law, a “fact” he said that Moynihan has chosen to ignore in adopting a moral stance on the issue.

He said Moynihan “has expressed views which have hardly had any touch with the real facts or situation relating to anti-doping and I don’t think a slanging match is helpful or appropriate.

“There were no crumbs left [in the judgment] for the BOA, and that was probably because of the way the BOA approached it.

“We have to retain a gentle touch with reality. Whatever sanctions are in place must be able to sustain a challenge in international law, and be proportionate.”

However, the IOC is hoping to rewrite the Wada code so that doping offenders miss at least one Games.

Such a rule could face the same challenges as an automatic four-year ban, but its inclusion could owe more to politics than legal nicety. And it is likely to be settled far from the moral high ground occupied in defeat by the BOA this week.

Ticketmaster fails to impress

London 2012 officials say that ticket sales have been strong in the 48 hours since Olympic football matches went back on sale, but faith in the system has not been helped by partners Ticketmaster.

In a press call at the weekend, a Ticketmaster executive offered no insight into why the system failed previously, and said those questioning what had gone wrong were “underestimating the scale of the challenge”. An odd answer given that appears to be precisely what Ticketmaster has done from the outset.

Royal host Duchess to attend fund-raiser

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have announced that they will attend the British Olympic Association’s gala dinner at the Royal Albert Hall on May 11. Ticket sales had been slow for the BOA’s final major fund-raiser before London 2012 but it is hoped the Kate effect will help to fill tables.